Djokovic, Alcaraz, Medvedev and Auger-Alaissime visit autism centre in Astana

| by Sebastian Dahlman

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz took some time out of their schedule to visit an autism centre in Astana on Monday with Medvedev and Auger-Aliassime doing it one day earlier.

The centre had welcomed Daniil Medvedev and Felix Auger-Aliassime the day before, as they spent some time there interacting with the children. Djokovic and Alcaraz followed suit, and for the majority of their visit, they were all smiles.

“They gave me a gift as well so I was smiling when they gave it to me. I’m so happy to live these things, to see the kids happy. And that’s the most important thing.” said Alcaraz after the visit.

The initiative from Bulat Utemuratov's foundation is called "Asyl Miras." The head of the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation opened 11 of these facilities around the nation, joining Medvedev, Auger-Aliassime, and Djokovic on Sunday and Alcaraz and Djokovic on Monday.

World no. 1 Alcaraz loses first match in 2022 without winning a set as he crashes out in Astana
World no. 1 Alcaraz loses first match in 2022 without winning a set as he crashes out in Astana

On his own visit, Medvedev said: “The centre is really nice. They help kids, they help parents, which I find also very important and it was great to see all these kids. They were all happy when we gave them presents and yes, it’s just nice energy, gives you a good mood, and yes you want to help people when you see this.”

Auger-Aliassime also added:

“Beautiful work done by the foundation. I also had an experience to see the video of the work that’s been done all over the country, so great to see it. It’s important what we’re doing, in tennis, trying to be players but it’s also important… It’s actually most important that these kids have the chance to develop in a good way, and I’m happy to see that for my own eyes. Very inspiring.”

"When you see grown guys tearing up like kids without control, it just proves how much tennis meant to him" - Auger-Aliassime on Federer's retirement
"When you see grown guys tearing up like kids without control, it just proves how much tennis meant to him" - Auger-Aliassime on Federer's retirement

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